German chemical company BASF is planning to launch more than 30 key projects, including novel seeds and traits, by 2029.
The company is also placing a sharper focus on research and development.
Speaking about the plans, Vincent Gros, president of BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division said: “Our aim is to find practical solutions that enable higher yielding and more stress-tolerant crop production, reduce farming’s CO² footprint and increase biodiversity.”
BASF’s focus is on new technologies and solutions in four strategic sectors and their respective crop systems: soya, corn, cotton; wheat, canola (oilseed rape), sunflowers; rice; fruit and vegetables.
The company has R&D projects that include wheat, canola (oilseed rape) and sunflower.
In this market, which is valued at around €12bn, BASF is developing solutions for climate resilient farming with higher yielding, as well as drought and heat tolerant, crops that require fewer resources, such as water and plant protection products.
“These developments are designed to enable farmers to sustainably increase yields and reduce tillage, which minimises erosion and greenhouse gas emissions,” BASF said.
For example, BASF’s InVigor pod shatter reduction and clubroot resistant trait technologies for canola would help in protecting yield potential from clubroot and deliver added flexibility for growers at harvest.
This season, the company also launched its ‘300 series’ InVigor canola featuring three new hybrids that offered growers improvements either in yield, pod shatter reduction protection, or clubroot resistance.
BASF said that mid-decade, it would be introducing LibertyLink yellow-seed canola which could be grown under more challenging conditions and would provide new rotation options for wheat growers in drier areas of North America.
The company was also developing portfolios across entire crop cycles for its remaining strategic crop systems including eight active ingredients, as well as unique traits and high-performing seeds, in soyabean, canola, cotton and vegetables.
In 2019, BASF’s agricultural solutions division generated sales of €7.8bn and its portfolio also includes chemical and biological crop protection, soil management, plant health, pest control and digital farming. The BASF group generated sales of €59bn in 2019.
